The national collection

The Grande Bibliothèque's collections are housed in two vast spaces, called “wooden rooms” in honour of Anne Hébert's novel “Les Chambres de Bois” (translated as “Silent Rooms”).

In an atmosphere suitable for research, the national collection is distributed over three levels around a reading room with an exceptional appeal (which makes up one of the “wooden rooms”). As required for valuable heritage collections, the space is subject to high control standards and the documents must be consulted in the national collection.

This collection contains books, reference works, government publications and microforms available directly on shelves or in filing cabinets as well as magazines and newspapers, available in mobile shelving, which BAnQ personnel can obtain for you.

In certain cases, only reproductions of documents can be consulted, as a result of the fragile condition of original works. For certain, old, rare or fragile documents, special consultation conditions may apply.

The reading room is equipped with photocopiers, digital readers/copiers, and multimedia workstations. BAnQ also offers users a document reproduction service, in the desired size and on a variety of media such as digital images, colour, laser digital print-outs, and large-scale inkjet print-outs.

Reference services by appointment

The specialized librarians for the national collection offer personalized services, both on site and by telephone, to guide you with complex research projects. They can help you develop a more efficient research strategy. To learn more.

Discovering the national collection

Bibliographic selectionsThe librarians for the national collection periodically suggest theme-based bibliographic selections. The documents proposed can be consulted at the national collection.